TO:

St. Philip’s Church 42 S. Main St. P. O. Box 225

Norwood, NY 13668

Our website saintphilipsnorwood.com

Phone:

(315) 353-2037

Our E-mail stphilips@live.com

The Rt. Rev. William H. Love, Bishop

The Rev. Kathryn Boswell, Rector

Wardens:

Charlie Colbert Romi Sebald

Vestry:

Jacob Beaulieu Russell Colbert Helen Harris Lynn Howe

Karen Morgan Sharon Yousey

Dear brothers and sisters,

I remember vividly the day that I first understood just what happens in

the process of childbirth. I am sure I was a very naïve little girl, blissfully

ignorant of so many painful facts of human life, so it came as a shock to me to

overhear some of the details of the birth process as my Mom talked to a friend

on the phone after the birth of my little brother. To me, childbirth simply

involved a few months of excitement and anticipation and the brief absence of

my mother, followed by her return home with a tiny, clean, warm bundle of

baby. In my innocence I had really never inquired further than that happy and

comfortable sequence of events...until the day of my eavesdropping on this

conversation that led to many anxious and scary questions.

What I recall most clearly from this very serious conversation is that my

Mom told me this: that no matter how painful labor and childbirth might be, it

is all forgotten in the joy of seeing the new little person that has come into the

world. Knowing my mother well, I am sure that she spoke from her heart; she

wasn't just 'sugar-coating' reality for the comfort of her anxious little daughter.

Given the chance, I know that my Mom, who lost many babies early in her

pregnancies, would have happily given birth to many more than the three

children she was able to have. As for the babies that she was able to carry to

full term – myself, my older sister and younger brother – every bit of pain and

discomfort that those births entailed was an act of love and a source of the

greatest joy for her.

Rector’s Message

CommonLife

Inside this issue:

Rector’s Message

1-2

Some Family

History

3

In Brief 4

What

Wondrous Love

5

Ministry

Schedule

6

Calendar

7

September 2015 Volume 5 Issue 9

St. Philip’s Church

Rev. Kathryn Boswell Rector

Welcoming the weary, dedicated to

discipleship “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I

will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find

rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:28-29)

The readings of the Daily Office these days have been bringing us through the Passion and

Death of our Lord. They are not easy reading, not fun, not pretty or poetic. The details of the Passion

are every bit – in fact, far more – alarmingly brutal and disturbingly graphic than the physical reality

of childbirth. The gospel writers do not spare us the harsh realities of cruelty and blood and sweat

and pain. They walk us through the hours of those dark days, side by side with Jesus, allowing us to

feel the sting of the whip and the bite of betrayal – and the fear of separation from God in those final

moments of his earthly life. It is almost unbearable sometimes to allow the words to sink into our

hearts, as we do most intentionally when we make the Stations of the Cross during Lent.

But what transforms the horror of the Passion into beauty for us is this: that although the

suffering and shame of Jesus Christ were inflicted by the cruelty and ignorance of human beings, the

truth is that our Lord walked every step of his Passion by choice, out of his passionate and unending

love for us. And the truth is that the outcome, for Jesus as well as for us, of all the horror of the

Crucifixion was the glorious joy of new life. I can imagine, at the risk of being a little presumptuous

perhaps, that Jesus might tell us what my Mom told me: that all the pain and suffering were

forgotten, blotted out, in his overwhelming joy as he walked forth from the empty tomb.

My mother passed away a few years ago. But I am still so richly blessed by the love she

poured out on me for as long as she lived, and not least for the power of her love that overwhelmed

the pain and suffering it took to bring me into the world, and transformed it into joy. And if we are

able to comprehend it with our childish hearts and minds, that kind of mother-love is a small type of

the divine love that the Father revealed to us in the Passion and Death of the Son: love so powerful

that even the very worst evil that the world could inflict on him in the weakness of his humanity was

eclipsed, blotted out, in the overwhelming joy of the new life he came to bestow on us, his beloved

children.

Blessed be He!

Love to you all in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,

Kathryn+

Page 2

Page 7

September—October

Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat

13

The Sixteenth

Sunday after

Pentecost

10:00 am Holy

Eucharist

14

15

9am

Helping

Hands

Board Mtg.

10:30am

Galatians

Bible Study

Common

Cents

10-2pm

16

10am

Healing Prayer

service

Common

Cents work

time 5-6:30 pm

17

Common

Cents

10-2pm

18

19 Common

Cents 10-Noon

20 The

Seventeenth

Sunday after

Pentecost

10:00 am Holy

Eucharist

21 22

10:00am

Galatians

Bible Study

Common

Cents

10-2pm

23

No

Healing Prayer

service

5-6:30

Community

Supper

24 Common

Cents

10-2pm

25

26

Common

Cents

10-Noon

27 The Eighteenth

Sunday after

Pentecost

10:00 am Holy

Eucharist

28 29

10:00am

Romans

Bible Study

Common

Cents

10-2pm

30

10am

Healing Prayer

service

Common Cents

work time

5-6:30 pm

October 1

Common

Cents

10-2pm

2

3

Common

Cents

10-Noon

4 The

Nineteenth

Sunday after

Pentecost

10:00 am Holy

Eucharist

5 6

10:00am

Romans

Bible study

10am

Healing

Prayer

service

7

10am

Healing Prayer

service

Common Cents

work time

5-6:30 pm

8

Common

Cents

10-2pm

9

6:30 pm

Healing &

Praise

Service

10

Common

Cents

10-Noon

10 am

Vestry Mtg.

In Brief Page 6

September

5—Joan Ladouceur

12—Patrick Kiely

16—Bob Firman

17—Larry Cavallaro

30—Paige Levison

Date Acolyte

Chalice

Bearer

Altar

Guild

Reader Prayers

of

the

People

Ushers/

Greeters

September 13 Nancy Irene & Millie Carroll Karen Michael & Helen

September 20 Roseanna June & Helen Laura Bob W. Romi & Irene

September 27 Charlie Karen Helen Roseanna Pat & Laura

October 4 Lynn Nancy Romi Sharon Charlie & Sam

October 11 Roseanna Irene & Millie Charlie Irene Charlie & Sam

October 18 June & Helen

October 25 Karen

September-October Ministry Schedule

September Anniversaries

7th—Michael & Helen Harris

21st—Floyd & Janice Cassselman

28th—Patrick & Laura Kiely

Mrs. Joan Ladouceur

205 State Street Rd.

Maplewood

Room 416, 2nd Floor

Canton, NY 13617

Joan Ladouceur’s new address

Pa

ge

3

Some Family History

Irenaeus was born about 125 a.d. to a Christian family in Smyrna.

Polycarp, who had been taught by John, was his bishop and first teacher.

As a young man Irenaeus went to Rome and studied under Justin

Martyr. By the time he was 35 he was a priest in Lyon, in France. The

next twenty years was a time of persecution; many clergy were

imprisoned. Irenaeus was not harmed but in Rome Justin was killed. In 177 the church in Lyon sent

him to Rome to ask advice from the Pope, and while he was there, the Christians in Lyon were

massacred. When he returned, Irenaeus became the second bishop to those who had survived. After

180 a.d. the persecution subsided and Irenaeus could concentrate on being a pastor, a missionary,

and a writer. He died about 200 a.d., some say as a martyr though we have no account of it.

The most famous of his writings was Against Heresies. In his region there were many followers of

Magus the Magician, one of many gnostic teachers. The gnostics did not care about being true to

Scripture or to Christian tradition. In answer, Irenaeus emphasized Scripture as the standard for

Christian teaching and gave the earliest list of the books of the New Testament. He emphasized

preserving the traditions that were handed down in direct line from Jesus, as he had received them

from Jesus to John to Polycarp. He emphasized an early version of “The Apostles' Creed” as a

summary of Christian belief.

Some early Christian communities tended to focus on a single gospel as their favorite and neglect

the other three. Irenaeus argued that the four gospels were intended to work together to give a full

perspective on their one message. The original meaning of the world “catholic” was someone who

used all four gospels rather than only one.

The Gnostics taught that the material world was created by an evil spirit to entrap us, and that

salvation meant escaping from material existence. Irenaeus taught that Jesus came to redeem the

body, not free us from it. He taught that Jesus would have come in the flesh even if we had not

sinned, and that atonement for sin was accomplished by Jesus' birth (rather than His crucifixion).

Irenaeus was the first to write about end times prophecies, and his ideas became standard

interpretation even to the present day. -Carroll

As so many young people in our community begin their new school year, let's be in prayer for them all, and also for those parents, teachers, and others who work to help them grow up to full and responsible adulthood. The following are prayers from the Book of Common Prayer that you might find helpful: A Prayer for Schools and Colleges O Eternal God, bless all schools, colleges, and universities, and especially Norwood/Norfolk Central Schools, Potsdam Central

Schools, SUNY Potsdam, Clarkson University, and all other institutions in which our young people are learning and growing, that they may be lively centers for sound learning, new discovery, and the pursuit of wisdom; and grant that those who teach and those who learn may find you to be the source of all truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. A Prayer for Young People God our Father, you see your children growing up in an unsteady and confusing world: Show them that your ways give more life than the ways of the world, and that following you is better than chasing after selfish goals. Help them to take failure, not as a measure of their worth, but as a chance for a new start. Give them strength to hold their faith in you, and to keep alive their joy in your creation; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Page 4

Tuesday morning Bible study embarks

on a new venture!

Paul's letter to the ROMANS

On September 22nd, God willing, the Tuesday

morning Bible study will finish our study of

the letter of Paul to the Galatian church. It has

been a rich and rewarding study, both because Paul's letter has so much to teach us about grace and

freedom and the way God works with his people, yesterday, today, and forever – but also because of

the excellent conversations that make our study richer and more personal. “Iron sharpens iron” and our

fellowship with one another is a blessing to us all.

Though there is no end to the wisdom we might gain from the study of Galatians, we are ready

now to begin a new study. We have chosen another of Paul's letters: this time a longer, more

theologically-packed one – his letter to the Romans. Our first Romans study will be September 29th.

It's going to be great!

If you are interested in joining us, I'll be ordering books in the next week or so, and I'd be happy

to order an extra copy for you. Or, if you'd like to study with us but don't want a book that's also fine –

the only text you really need is your Bible.

Mtr. Kathryn+

September Community Dinner Wednesday, September 23 from 5:00 to 6:30 This month's menu is

BEEF STEW

HOMEMADE BISCUITS

SALADS

DESSERT

What you can do to help:

make a dessert, salad, or dessert

contribute toward the cost of food

come early on Wednesday to set tables and make our main dish

come at 5 to serve your neighbors or wash dishes

come, eat, and be a friendly face and a listening ear

Pray that the love of Jesus Christ will fill our Parish Hall

and reach out into our community!

In Brief

Pa

ge

5

What Wondrous Love Is This

American Folk Hymn

What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul!

What wondrous love is this, O my soul!

What wondrous love is this

That caused the Lord of bliss

To bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul,

To bear the dreadful curse for my soul!

When I was sinking down, sinking down, sinking down,

When I was sinking down, sinking down,

When I was sinking down

Beneath God’s righteous frown,

Christ laid aside His crown for my soul for my soul,

Christ laid aside His crown for my soul.

To God and to the Lamb I will sing, I will sing;

To God and to the Lamb I will sing;

To God and to the Lamb,

Who is the great I AM,

While millions join the theme, I will sing, I will sing,

While millions join the theme, I will sing.

And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on;

And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on.

And when from death I’m free

I’ll sing His love for me,

And through eternity I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on,

And through eternity I’ll sing on.